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18x6-1916 




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REV. PAUL R. HICKOK 
1917 



Second Presbyterian Church 

ofT:roy,J^Y, 



HISTORICAL SKETCH 

Prepared and Read at the Reopening 
of the Auditorium, October 3, 19 15 



William H-. Hollister, Tr. 

Clerh of the Session 



Revised and Extended to 
April, 19 16 



Published by direction of the Session 




LTHOUGH somewhat more than a decade 
remains until the rounding out of the century- 
mark of the organization of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church of Troy, it has been deemed 
advisable by the session to take advantage of the occasion 
of re-entering the auditorium for worship, after an absence 
of three months, made necessary by somewhat extensive 
repairs, improvements and renovation thereof, by pre- 
paring and presenting a historical sketch of the church 
covering its nearly ninety years of life and activities. 

In its preparation the writer has been very largely 
informed as to its early history by the historical discourse 
given by a former pastor, Rev. Dr. William Irvin, on the 
occasion of the semi-centennial of the church in July, 1876, 
remembered by many who are still members of the church 
and congregation; and to him I am very largely indebted 
for many of the facts of the first fifty years of this church's 
history. 

Some embarrassment as to historical accuracy still 
exists as to many early events by reason of the destruction 
of a part of our first church records by the great fire which 
swept over the city in 1862, destroying our first house of 
worship and the residences and homes of many of the 
members. Fortunately the original register of member- 
ship has been preserved and we are thus able to state 
with accuracy the list of the original fifty members, all of 
whom came upon certificate from other churches. 

The Roll of Charter Members. 

There were forty-five from the First Presbyterian 
Church of Troy, three from the Presbyterian Church of 
Stillwater, one from the Presbyterian Church of Lansing- 
burgh, and one from the Reformed Dutch Church of 
Union Village, Washington County, N. Y. 

[ 5 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N . Y . 

These were received into membership on the 25th day 
of September, 1827, after the church had been ecclesias- 
tically organized by the Presbytery of Troy, and are 
as follows: 

From the First Presbyterian Church of Troy: 

Elias Badaeu, Zenas Gary, Gurdon Corning, Mrs. Ara- 
bella Gorning, Hannah G. Gorning, Edward M. Gee, Mrs. 
Ann Goe, Mary Ann Goe, Mrs. Susan Drake (Dr. Samuel), 
Daniel Delavan, Mrs. Rachel Delavan, Theodosia Delavan, 
Mrs. Elizabeth Eldridge (Stephen), Gurdon Grant, Mrs. 
Lydia Grant, Mrs. Eunice Greenman (Josiah), Mrs. Mary 
Haight (William D.), Luther Hannam, Jr., Deliverance 
Knowles, Mrs. Elizabeth Lyman (Micah J.), John D. Mann, 
Mrs. Martha P. Mann, Timothy Mann, Abram Nash, Mrs. 
Sarah Nash, Lucy Nash, John Prescott, Mrs. Margaret 
Prescott, James Ranken, Mrs. Abigail Ranken, Mrs. Sarah 
Sackett (Daniel), Lucy Start, Roxanna Stearns, Edwin 
Wilson, Jr., Gatherine Witbeck, Jared Weed, Mrs. Mary 
Weed, Alsop Weed, Mrs. Lucy Weed, Mrs. Lorinda Silli- 
man (Robert D.), John Thomas, Mrs. Lucy Thomas, Sally 
Townsend, James Wallace, Mrs. Matilda Wallace. 

From ike First Presbyterian Church of Lansingburgh : 
Mrs. Lois Ross (Stephen). 

From the Presbyterian Church of Stillwater: 

Mrs. Nancy Patrick (Jesse), Jane Patrick, Ann 
Osborne. 

From the Reformed Dutch Church of Union Village: 
Mrs. Eliza Stearns (Livy). 

Why a Second Church. 

About the first of February, 1826, a number of mem- 
bers of the congregation of the First Presbyterian Church 
were considering the matter of forming another Presby- 
terian church in Troy, then a city of about seven thousand 
inhabitants. While it has been said and thought by some 
that the proposed enterprise was started and nourished by 

[6 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

reason of certain theological dissensions and differences 
in doctrines and methods among the members of the First 
church, yet it is not so well authenticated as to conclude 
with any certainty that other reasons were not the primary 
ones. Later, in the year of 1826, the great evangelist, 
Charles G. Finney, then in the height of his evangelistic 
career, responded to an invitation to hold special services 
in the First Presbyterian Church, and as a result thereof 
a great revival work was accomplished. While the dif- 
ferences stated may have existed and, possibly, in some 
measure, may have been encouraged or emphasized by 
the work of the great revivalist, yet the fact remains that 
the movement to organize a Second Presbyterian Church 
had been under way for nearly a year before Dr. Finney 
came to Troy. It cannot therefore be said that these 
conditions were primarily responsible for the organiza- 
tion of a new church, but rather, that such organization 
was the consequence of a natural and rapid growth toward 
the north of a comparatively young and thriving town, 
and for the accommodation of many residing in that 
locality, and also looking toward an extension of religious 
and denominational influence in the community. 

The Initial Work. 

The initial practical work of the enterprise began 
when a committee consisting of Jeremiah Dauchy, William 
D, Haight, Robert D. Silliman, Stephen Eldridge, Uriah 
Wallace, and Gideon Buckingham, started a subscription 
for the purpose of purchasing a site for the erection of a 
church building in that locality, and as a result of that 
movement the sum of $11,165 was raised for that purpose 
by subscription from one hundred and eight persons, in 
amounts ranging from five dollars to one thousand dollars 

[ 7 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

each. None of these persons apparently were ever in the 
membership of this church except Robert D. Silliman, 
who, several years after its organization, became a member 
upon profession of his faith; but members of the families 
of some of them were among those who brought their 
letters from the First church and became charter members 
of the Second church. 

For some time those who had in mind the new church 
organization had been holding services on the Sabbath 
in a school house near the corner of Fourth and Elbow 
(now Fulton) Streets, the exact spot not being clearly 
identified, but probably it was on Fourth Street above 
Fulton. 

The Civil Organization. 

On the 25th day of May, 1826, a meeting was held 
in this school house of the male members of what was 
then designated as the Second Presbyterian Congregation 
of the City of Troy, and action was taken on the subject 
of forming a corporate organization as indicated by the 
following certificate, made under the provisions of the 
statutes of the State of New York. 

CERTIFICATE. 

This may certify to all whom it may concern, that at a 
meeting of the male members of full age belonging to the Second 
Presbyterian Congregation of the City of Troy, in the County of 
Rensselaer and State of New York, assembled at the usual place 
of divine worship in the school house near the corner of Fourth 
and Elbow Streets in the Fourth Ward of said City on the 25th 
day of May in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred 
and twenty-six, agreeable to public notice given at three stated 
meetings of the society previous to the meeting for the choice of 
trustees, and fifteen days before and previous to this day, we 
John Thomas and Alsop Weed, were nominated by the majority 
of the members present to preside at the election of trustees for 

[ 8 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

the aforesaid co'ngregation, agreeable to an act of the Legislature 
to provide for the incorporation of religious societies passed 
April 5, 1813; and in conformity to the Third Section of the said 
act, Jeremiah Dauchy, Stephen Eldridge, William D. Haight, 
Robert D. Silliman, Uriah Wallace, and Gideon Buckingham, 
were duly elected trustees for the management of the temporali- 
ties of the said Congregation, and that they and their successors 
in office are to be forever hereafter known by the name of the 
"Second Presbyterian Congregation of the City of Troy." 

Given under our hands and seals this 25th day of May, in 
the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and twenty-six, 

(Signed) John Thomas. 
A. Weed. 

Sealed and Delivered in Presence of 
E. Bell and 
R. Delavan. 

The above certificate was acknov^ledged on the 30th 
day of May, 1826, before David Buell, Jr., First Judge of 
Rensselaer Common Pleas, and recorded on the same day 
in the office of the Clerk of Rensselaer County. 

The Ecclesiastical Organization. 

The ecclesiastical organization of the church did not 
occur until more than one year afterward. At a meeting 
of the Presbytery of Troy at Salem on the 29th of August, 
1827, a communication was received from some of the 
members of the new congregation requesting its organ- 
ization as a church, and a committee was then appointed 
for that purpose. At a special meeting of the Presbytery 
of Troy on October 30th, following, the church was 
received by the Presbytery and placed on its roll as the 
Second Presbyterian Church of Troy, at the request of 
its three commissioners, Joseph Russell, Daniel Sackett, 
and Alfred Mosher. Gurdon Corning, one of the first 
elders, represented the new church in the Presbytery. 

[ 9 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

After the filing of the papers for incorporation under 
the statute in 1826, and before the reception of the church 
by the Presbytery in 1827, much and important work had 
been done. 

The Building and Laying the Corner Stone. 

On the 22nd of May, 1826, in consideration of the 
sum of $550, conveyance was made by Stephen Warren 
to the trustees of the corporation of two lots (873-874) 
on the east side of Sixth Street and south of Grand Divi- 
sion (now Grand) Street, aggregating in size one hundred 
feet front and extending eastward to the alley, one hun- 
dred thirty feet. This is the same ground now partially 
covered by what is known as Church Place on the south- 
east corner of Grand Street and the railroad. Within 
two months from that date, and on July 12th, the corner 
stone of the new church building was laid. The Boards 
of Trustees of the First Presbyterian Church and of the 
new Second Church met on that day at the house of 
Gideon Buckingham on Fourth Street, next south of 
the present site of the Security Trust Company, and, with 
the ministers invited to take part in the service, proceeded 
to the site of the new church, corner of Sixth and Grand 
Division Streets, and in the presence of a very large gath- 
ering of people the corner stone was laid with appropriate 
ceremonies. The cast iron box deposited in the corner 
stone was made by Starbuck & Gurley, Iron Founders 
of Troy, and contained a copper plate on which was in- 
scribed as follows: "The corner stone of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church, laid July 12, 1826," also the names of 
the six trustees as above, and that of Nehemiah Brown, 
the mason, and John Ayres, the carpenter. The box also 
contained a copy of each of the several newspapers pub- 

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SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

lished in Troy, and the different denominations of Ameri- 
can silver and copper coins. 

The interest shown in the new church enterprise by 
the First church was indicated by the presence and hearty 
co-operation of its officers and trustees, as well as by the 
fact that the address on this occasion was delivered by 
its pastor, the Rev. Nathan S. S. Beman. Thereafter the 
building proceeded rapidly, and in one of the city news- 
papers of the following December (1826) was described 
as follows: "The Second Presbyterian Society (one lately 
formed and worshipping with the First) have erected 
this season an elegant brick church at the corner of Grand 
Division and Sixth Streets. It w^ill be entirely finished 
early next spring. It is eighty by fifty feet ; has a Session 
Room, and rooms for other purposes in the basement story 
and discovers much taste and skill in its construction." 

The pulpit was elaborately constructed of Honduras 
mahogany with a curved flight of balustraded steps on 
either side and was one of the costly appointments of the 
building. A fine toned bell cast by Julius Hanks was hung 
in the steeple. There were twelve hundred sittings in 
the building, five hundred of which were in the gallery. 
The building was completed in the early spring of 1827. 

Old System of Pew Ownership. 

It was largely the custom of churches in those days 
to sell and convey by formal deed of conveyance, under 
seal, a pew or slip in the church to an individual, in form 
as elaborate as that pertaining to the transfer of real estate. 
These conveyances, however, were made subject to the 
payment of an annual rental therefor, amounting usually 
to about ten per cent, of the sum paid for such pew or 
slip. The title ran to the grantee, his heirs, executors, 

[ 11 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

administrators and assigns. This church adopted that 
custom in its beginning. The aggregate sum to be thus 
raised by rentals at that time was fixed at $1,562 and the 
amount of rentals could only be increased by a two-thirds 
vote of all the pew owners on the ground floor of said 
meeting house, and then to a sum not to exceed $2,000. 
In case of an increase in pew rentals, the same were to 
be apportioned among the pews in the same ratio as the 
original rentals. Among the conditions imposed upon 
the pew holders, as set forth in their deed of conveyance, 
was that in case it should happen that the yearly rent 
should be behind and unpaid for the space of thirty days 
beyond the time limit of payment, it should be lawful 
for the congregation (called the first party in the deed) 
"to re-enter and take possession and enjoy such pew or 
slip and expel, put out and amove therefrom such delinquent 
pew holders and all other persons"; and the title to said 
pew would then cease, become void and of none efifect, 
and would revert to the corporation. This plan, however, 
was discontinued after the destruction of that building 
by fire in 1862. 

One of the earliest of these conveyances is before the 
writer, dated January 19, 1829, and conveys title of the 
pew or slip to Micah J. Lyman and to his two sons, Charles 
and George Lyman, for the sum of $190, with $19 as an 
annual rental. 

The Call and Pastorate of Mark Tucker. 

On March 10, 1827, and before the selling of the 
pews, the congregation, although not yet ecclesiastically 
organized by the Presbytery as a church, extended a 
hearty call to the Rev. Mark Tucker, then of Northampton, 
Mass., and formerly of the Presbyterian Church of Still- 

[ 12 ] 




Pastors of Church since organization, 1 827-1 91 6. 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

water, N. Y., to become its pastor, which call was subse- 
quently accepted. During the month of August, 1827, 
the ceremonies attending the dedication of the new edifice 
were held, and the sermon on that occasion was deliv- 
ered by Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D., then the dis- 
tinguished President of Williams College, and popularly 
known as a "prince of preachers." 

Rev. Mr. Tucker was duly installed pastor of the 
church by the Presbytery of Troy on the 31st day of 
October, the day following the placing of the church on 
the roll of Presbytery. At the installation of the new 
pastor. Rev. John Younglove of Brunswick, presided. 
Rev. John Kennedy preached the sermon, Rev. R. K. 
Rodgers of Sandy Hill gave the charge to the pastor, and 
the Rev. Solomon Lyman the charge to the people. 

The church had made a fortunate selection in its first 
pastor. Dr. Tucker's preaching appealed to the emotions 
of his hearers, and his pastoral services were wise, affec- 
tionate, and acceptable. For nearly ten years he labored 
with great efficiency for the prosperity of the church. 
Large accessions were the reward of his labors. 

In the year 1831, one hundred fifty-six persons were 
received into membership on profession of their faith as 
the result of a great revival. In 1834 there were four 
hundred thirty communicants on the roll, after a consid- 
erable number (about seventy) had been dismissed to the 
newly organized Second Street Presbyterian Church. 

During eight of the years of Dr. Tucker's ministry, 
omitting two years of which no report is preserved, two 
hundred ninety-eight persons were received on profession, 
and two hundred eighteen by letter. 

On May 2, 1837, Dr. Tucker's pastorate terminated 
by his resignation, and he became pastor of a Congrega- 

[ 13 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

tional church in Providence, R. I. Twenty-seven years 
later he was invited to take part in, and was present at, 
the dedication of this building wherein we now worship 
and offered prayer on that occasion. He died March 19, 
1875, and as a mark of respect to the loving memory of 
their former pastor, a committee of the Session of this 
church attended the services of his burial at Weathers- 
field, Conn. 

Erastus Hopkins and Charles Wadsworth. 

Rev. Erastus Hopkins was called to follow Dr. Tucker, 
and was installed September 13, 1837. He was a man 
of genial manners and scholarly attainments, and an ex- 
cellent writer and speaker. By reason of ill health he was 
compelled to give up his pastoral labors, and in 1841 
resigned this charge much to the regret of his people, and 
sought rest and change in Northampton, Mass., the place 
of his early residence. During his pastorate the church 
registration reached four hundred forty one, which was 
the highest up to that time. During the latter part of 
Mr. Hopkins' pastorate he was prevented from preaching 
by reason of ill health, and for several months before, as 
well as following his resignation, the pulpit was supplied 
by Mr. Charles Wadsworth, a young man who had been 
licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Troy, but who 
had not yet been ordained. Mr. Wadsworth's services 
were so acceptable that he was unanimously and enthusi- 
astically called to the pastorate and was ordained and 
installed in February following (1842). The Rev. Dr. 
Eliphalet Nott, then the president of Union College, 
preached the installation sermon. Mr. Wadsworth soon 
developed great powers as a preacher and established a 
reputation far beyond local limits as a man of rare rhetori- 

[ 14 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

cal gifts and brilliancy of speech. His power was in the pul- 
pit rather than in pastoral and social service, and in this his 
peculiar gifts were remarkably effective. After eight years 
of service he also, like his predecessor, was compelled by 
ill health to give up his charge, which he did in March, 
1850, to the great sorrow of his people. Under his min- 
istry the church grew from three hundred sixty to four 
hundred ninety-one members, the additions in one year 
being nearly one hundred on profession. Dr. Wadsworth 
afterwards spent many years as a pastor in Philadelphia 
and San Francisco, taking a foremost place among the 
preachers of those cities, and in the church at large. 

Thomas P. Field, Fourth Pastor. 

The fourth pastor was Rev. Thomas P. Field, who, 
like two of his predecessors, came from Massachusetts, 
and was installed on November 14, 1850. He was a man 
of fine tastes, great scholarship and culture, and an 
attractive speaker. His pastorate of three and one-half 
years was successful, and with great reluctance his resig- 
nation was accepted on February 16, 1854, that he might 
accept a call to a professorship in Amherst College. Sub- 
sequently Dr. Field returned to the pastoral work and 
become pastor of the leading Congregational Church in 
New London, Conn. 

Elam Smalley, Fifth Pastor. 

On June 21, 1855, Rev. Elam Smalley was installed 
the fifth pastor of this church. I well remember the ten- 
derness with which our late beloved brother. Elder Field, 
always spoke of Dr. Smalley, of his rare sweetness of 
disposition, his unusual spirituality, his deep piety and 
devotion to duty, which together with his pulpit power 

[ 15 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

completely won his people, and made him very successful 
in his ministry. Sadly enough, in the fourth year of his 
pastorate, ill health overtook him, and his work was ter- 
minated by his death on July 30, 1858, scarcely more than 
four years after his installation, beloved and lamented by 
all who knew him. Dr. Smalley's resting place is in our 
beautiful Oakwood, where a monument, erected by this 
church, marks the place of his burial. It may be worthy 
of mention here that the son of Dr. Smalley was George 
W. Smalley, who attained a world-wide reputation as 
journalist and newspaper correspondent, and whose de- 
cease has but recently occurred after a brilliant record of 
a full half century. 

Joseph T. Duryea, Sixth Pastor. 

Following Dr. Smalley came Joseph T. Duryea, a 
young man fresh from Princeton College and Seminary, not 
yet ordained, who was called, and on the 19th day of May, 
1859, was ordained and installed as the sixth pastor of 
this church. He came with honors already earned and 
with a reputation as a writer and speaker of extraordinary 
promise. He was zealous, ambitious and inspiring, and 
had the power of imparting his zeal and spirit to his people, 
and especially the younger portion, and quickly they re- 
sponded to his leadership with great enthusiasm and affec- 
tion. The congregation and Sabbath School grew and 
prospered under the stimulating guidance of the young 
pastor. Because of his rare and extraordinary gifts, and 
his remarkable success in his first charge, other and larger 
communities sought him for wider, and perhaps more 
important, fields of labor. Within three years he was 
called to the City of New York as pastor of one of the 

[ 10 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

large Collegiate Reformed Dutch Churches, and was dis- 
missed by this Presbytery in March, 1862. 

The Great Fire of 1862. 

Scarcely three months after the departure of Mr. 
Duryea, and on May 10, 1862, came the greatest trial to 
the church and the city that has probably occurred in the 
history of either. In a few hours, beginning about noon 
of that day, "the great fire," as it always since has been 
known, swept over and devastated the city, at a loss of 
nearly or quite three million dollars of property. Among 
the seven hundred buildings destroyed on that afternoon 
was the house of worship of this church. Early after the 
beginning of the fire, starting at the old railroad bridge, 
a wooden structure, a burning brand blown by a strong 
wind lodged in the steeple, and before one o'clock the 
whole structure was wrapped in flames. A present mem- 
ber of this congregation, then a young man, who came up 
at the time, in his zeal to save something, rushed up the 
steps and gathered some cushions on his shoulder and 
bore them away in safety, together with an armful of 
hymn books, some of which as relics he has yet in his 
possession. Practically everything was lost in the total 
destruction of the church and session house adjoining. 

The hardest blow, however, was upon those of the 
congregation who lost practically all their possessions, 
and nearly or quite one hundred families in the congre- 
gation who had begun the day in comfort came to the 
night with their homes and places of business in ruins, 
and many with all their property destroyed. Surely the 
outlook to many was dark, but their spirit and resolution 
were put to the test and they prevailed over the misfor- 
tune thus suddenly thrust upon them, and met the emer- 

[ 17 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

gency with undaunted courage. The fire occurred on a 
Saturday. One week from the following Sabbath, ser- 
vices were held in Harmony Hall, conducted by Rev. 
Alfred H. Kellogg of New York, who had come to Troy 
on the day of the fire to supply the pulpit on the following 
day, but then found neither church building in which to 
preach, nor congregation to serve. For some time after- 
wards regular Sabbath morning services were held in 
Harmony Hall, which was occupied jointly with the con- 
gregation of the Fifth Street Baptist Church, which church 
had also suffered loss of its house of worship. Several of 
the other churches of the same and other denominations. 
Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal, promptly and gener- 
ously placed at the disposal of the sufifering churches their 
various places of worship for other services, which kindly 
offers were to some extent accepted from time to time. 
Within nine days after the fire and on May 19th the 
congregation met and appointed a committee consisting 
of Jared S. Weed, Ransom B. Moore, Ezra W. Boughton 
and Horace T. Caswell, to procure a new site for building. 
Already one of their number, with a business promptness 
and energy, born of a consecrated enthusiasm, and on his 
own responsibility, had secured control of lots for that 
purpose, and within twenty days after the fire ; and on 
May 30th, the first deed was executed of one of the lots, 
followed during the month of June by deeds of the remain- 
ing lots composing the one hundred and fifty feet frontage 
on the west side of Fifth Avenue, between Fulton and 
Grand Streets, on which this building and the session 
house now stand, at a cost of $13,250. The people then 
said, "Let us arise and build." "So they strengthened 
their hands for this good work," and the building of the 
present chapel was immediately begun and pushed forward 

[ 18 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

as rapidly as possible. It was finished before Christmas 
of that year and was well filled with a large and enthusi- 
astic congregation. 

Pastorate of Daniel S. Gregory and Building and 
Dedication of New House of Worship. 

In the meantime the church had called the Rev. Daniel 
S. Gregory, a graduate of Princeton College and Seminary, 
like his immediate predecessor, and he was installed on 
November 5, 1862, before the completion of the chapel. 
The enthusiasm of the people over the success of the new 
chapel, and their interest in their new pastor, together 
with a rapidly increasing congregation, soon demanded 
something more than the limited space and accommoda- 
tions of a chapel for worship, and they repeated the old 
slogan, "Let us arise and build," and they did it. The 
new pastor had scarcely become well started in his work, 
before the determination was made to begin subscriptions 
for a new church building, and the plan was so rapidly 
advanced that an early commencement of the work was 
warranted and actually begun. About one year and a half 
after the completion of the chapel, and on July 14, 1864, 
the corner stone of this building was laid by the pastor, 
Mr. Gregory, in the presence of a large gathering of 
people. On March 30th following, the building, entirely 
completed, was dedicated to the worship of God, the 
sermon on that occasion being preached by Rev. Wm. H. 
Green, of Princeton Seminary, and an address delivered 
by the pastor. It was on this occasion that the Rev. Dr. 
Tucker, the first pastor, returned and participated in the 
services, offering the dedication prayer. 

By invitation of the Session, on the second Sabbath 
of April following the dedication, the pastors, sessions, 

[ 19 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

and members of the other Presbyterian churches of Troy, 
united in a communion service with this church in its new 
house of worship, as an expression of fraternal joy and 
satisfaction over the successful completion of the enter- 
prise. 

The new church building was then, and for many 
years continued to be, the largest auditorium in the city, 
having a seating capacity of thirteen hundred and fifty, 
including a gallery around three sides which would ac- 
commodate about four hundred. The organ was placed 
in the northwest corner, and the pulpit was a large plat- 
form in a recess at the west end, where the present organ 
now stands. At that time it was thought and said to be 
a beautiful auditorium, but to those who have been privi- 
leged to compare it with its present changed architecture 
and decoration, the terms of description must be consid- 
erably modified. By reason of its great size, it came to be 
sought for on many occasions when preparations were 
to be made for large and popular gatherings. Thus pa- 
triotic meetings at the close of the Civil War were held 
here, and in the early nineties when Dwight L. Moody 
held his evangelistic campaign in Troy services were all 
held in this church, although its capacity had been then 
somewhat reduced by alterations in 1880. The original 
cost of the church and chapel together with the site was 
about $71,000, and the money was raised in a compara- 
tively short time, except the sum of $10,000, which was 
carried for a few years and finally paid in 1871. 

As a consequence and natural result of all this activity 
and self sacrifice, let me quote the actual and impressive 
words of Dr. Irvin, the successor of Mr. Gregory, in 
the church. 

"Such Christian zeal and perseverance and self sacri- 

[ 20 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

fice did not fail, as they never do fail, to receive speedily 
divine recognition and reward. The spiritual conditions of 
the church, throughout its trying experience, had been sat- 
isfactory and promising. The Gospel had been faithfully 
and powerfully preached ; family visitation had been sys- 
tematically pursued, and additions to the membership had 
been constant, if not specially numerous. But in the early 
months of 1866, God opened the windows of heaven and 
poured out upon the church an unusual blessing. Continu- 
ous evening services were held and largely attended through 
March, April and May. A deep and solemn spirit pervaded 
the people. Christians were moved to great activity and 
earnest prayer; and on the first Sabbath of June (1866), 
one hundred and ten persons were received into the 
church's fellowship on confession of their faith. God's 
people had laid their carnal things liberally upon his altar; 
and now by his grace, they reaped spiritual things a 
hundred fold." 

The present records show that of the number added 
as above, there are six persons yet upon the roll of the 
church, some of whom are present at this service to-day. 

In the following December, 1866, Mr. Gregory re- 
signed his pastorate, after four years of faithful service, 
to accept a call to a Congregational Church in New Haven. 
Dr. Gregory afterward became a successful educator, a 
Professor of Mental and Moral Philosophy in Wooster 
University, Ohio, acquiring a great reputation as a scholar, 
preacher, commentator, and author, and a great defender 
and advocate of the conservative view of the scriptures 
and statement of Christian doctrine. Dr. Gregory lived to 
a good old age, and died at the age of eighty-three on 
April 13th during the present year (1915). 

[ 21 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Pastorate of William Irvin. 

The eighth pastor was Rev. William Irvin, who was 
called from the Presbyterian Church of Rondout, N. Y., 
and began his labors on the last Sabbath of May, 1867, 
and was installed on the 11th of July following. He was 
a graduate of Rutgers College and Princeton Seminary, 
and for a time was instructor in that college, soon after 
his graduation. He had but one pastorate before he came 
to this church. The beginning of his pastorate here is 
remembered by comparatively few persons in the church 
as there are only fourteen names now remaining on the 
church roll of those who were members at that time, after 
the lapse of over forty-eight years. 

There are two events of especial prominence occur- 
ring under Dr. Irvin's pastorate, to wit, the formation of 
the Young People's Christian Union, and the organization 
of the Ninth Presbyterian Church of Troy. In each of 
these he had a leading and guiding hand. 

Organization of Young People's Christian Union. 

The Young People's Christian Union was organized 
in 1867 for the purpose of enlisting the activities of the 
young people in Christian work and for increased efficiency. 
The pastor suggested to the society its motto which has 
stood now for nearly a half century: "More united and 
earnest effort in the cause of Christ." It has been a train- 
ing school for many a young man and woman in the devel- 
opment of Christian life and activity. Its energies were ex- 
ercised and developed in various ways, both within and 
without the borders of the church. It has, ever since its 
organization, maintained a meeting on Sabbath evenings 
before the regular service, and encouraged the idea of every 
individual taking a personal part in the service. For many 

[ 22 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

years it took a leading part with other church organiza- 
tions of a Hke character in maintaining, during the summer, 
open air services at places beyond the church buildings, 
such as the steamboat wharf and on Mount Olympus in 
the northern part of the city. It made a careful and 
systematic distribution of tracts and religious papers 
among the boatmen on the canal opposite our city, and 
in the saloons and other places. It held religious services 
at the county almshouse and at the jail, and distributed 
wholesome reading matter there, and also distributed 
personal comforts to those in need. Of late years these 
activities, or some of them at least, seem to have been 
somewhat halted or restricted. This may be by reason of 
changed conditions in the community or from some other 
cause. It is to be devoutly hoped that such conditions 
may arise as will permit the society to fully and com- 
pletely resume its former Christian activities, and be- 
come the educative and spiritual power to our young 
people as of old. 

This society was among the very first of such organi- 
zations in the country, and ante-dates the Christian En- 
deavor movement, organized for a similar purpose, by 
about fifteen years. It is pleasant to record that one of 
its organizers and its first president is our beloved brother 
in the eldership, Harvey S. McLeod, now one of the two 
senior members of the session. 

There is one who was associated with its organiza- 
tion and history, who became its second president, and 
whose name will forever be so intimately and conspicu- 
ously linked with the spirituality and Christian activities 
of this church, that I would do violence to the history of 
this church and be false to my own feelings as a true chron- 
icler, were I not here to pause and mention him in this con- 

[ 23 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

nection — Henry W. Sherrill. It will be no injustice to 
others — ministers or laymen — to say that he probably 
touched more lives during the ten years of his membership 
and activity in this church, by the sweetness of his disposi- 
tion, the gentleness of his spirit, his loving counsel, his 
marvelous unselfishness, his noble Christian character, his 
complete consecration and his indefatigable efforts to lead 
young men to Christ, than any other one of his day in this 
whole community. Just forty years ago, September 28, 
1875, at the early age of twenty-eight, he was taken from his 
earthly labors, but his name and memory are still fragrant 
and blessed to many who had the rare privilege of being 
associated with him in service. He still lives in the hearts 
of many, both within and beyond the bounds of this church, 
who received their first impulse toward the Christian life 
through his personal influence. "Yea, saith the spirit, 
that they may rest from their labors; and their works do 
follow them." 

Ninth Presbyterian Church. 
The other conspicuous event in Dr. Irvin's ministry 
here was the development and organization of the Ninth 
Presbyterian Church which was very largely due to his 
wise and persistent efforts in that behalf. Many years 
before, and as early as 1846, a Sabbath School was organ- 
ized near Mount Olympus and supervised by members of 
this church. After a term of suspension it was reorganized 
in 1856 under the auspices of the former Young Men's 
Christian Association, and under the superintendency of 
Mr. Frederick P. Allen, afterwards an honored Elder in 
this church. Following a second suspension it was finally 
placed under the care of this church in 1866. It grew so 
rapidly as to demand greater accommodations in a field 
that gave great promise, and in 1868 an effort was begun 

[ 24 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

to provide a chapel for that purpose. Over $13,000 were 
subscribed in a brief period, mostly by members of this 
church, and four lots were purchased on the corner of 
North Second (now Fifth Avenue)and Jay Streets, and by 
December, 1868, a brick chapel accommodating four hun- 
dred was finished and occupied by the Sabbath School. 
Regular service also was held on Sabbath afternoons 
conducted by the pastor. Dr. Irvin, and others until May, 
1868, when this church invited Rev. Ninian B. Remick, 
just graduated from Union Theological Seminary to take 
charge of the enterprise. The church was organized by 
the Presbytery of Troy on September 30, 1869, under the 
name of the Ninth Presbyterian Church of Troy, with 
eighty-one members, very largely drawn from this church, 
and who were residing in the neighborhood of the new 
church. Mr. Remick was installed as pastor of that church 
October 28, 1869. Through his wise and efficient leader- 
ship the church had a wonderful growth, became one of 
the strong churches of the city and Presbytery, and grew 
to a membership of over six hundred. 

Of all the home missionary enterprises in this city 
there is none that can be pointed to with greater pride 
and satisfaction by any church than that of this church in 
the initiation and development of the Ninth Presbyterian 
Church of Troy. To William Irvin, then pastor, aided 
by the noble men then in the official boards of this church, 
is due the credit of this splendid monument of Christian 
enterprise and devotion. 

In 1875 Dr. Irvin took an active part in a special re- 
vival effort among the various churches of the city under 
the supervision of the Rev. A. B. Earle, evangelist, which 
resulted in a general spiritual awakening throughout the 
city. As a result, this church profited very largely from 

[ 25 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

that work. In the report to Presbytery in the spring of 
1876, there were reported as received into its communion 
during the preceding year, one hundred and three mem- 
bers, two-thirds of whom were received on profession of 
their faith. 

Dr. Irvin labored here most acceptably and effectively 
for almost twenty years, his being the longest pastorate 
of this church, and until March, 1887, when he resigned 
to accept a call to become one of the Secretaries of the 
Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church. 
U. S. A. In this office he labored for about five years and 
never thereafter took up a settled pastorate. On many 
occasions Dr. Irvin returned to take part in some function 
of the church and to supply the pulpit, and was always 
received by his former people with the deepest regard and 
affectionate demonstration. For many years after his 
retirement from the secretaryship of the Home Board, 
Dr. Irvin resided abroad, mostly in France and Germany, 
and passed away in Berlin on the 22nd day of February, 
1909, in his seventy-sixth year. 

Hector Hall, Ninth Pastor. 

In July, 1887, Rev. Hector Hall, of Glasgow, Scot- 
land, preached for three Sabbaths as a vacation supply 
in this pulpit. Even in midsummer large congregations 
attended the services. At the conclusion of his engage- 
ment the people expressed their desire to have him called 
to the pastorate, and at a congregational meeting called 
for that purpose later in the month, a call was heartily 
extended to him. After Mr. Hall's return to Glasgow he 
accepted the call and was installed on the 17th of Novem- 
ber, 1887. The new pastor brought with him a ripe expe- 
rience, rare scholarship, extraordinary biblical knowledge, 

[ 20 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. V. 

a strong personality and a zeal for service which made his 
pastorate of nearly fifteen years one of success, helpful- 
ness and spiritual uplift. Dr. Hall soon took a leading 
position in the Presbytery and became an authority on 
subjects of Bible interpretation and exposition. His style 
of preaching was largely expository, but often in the de- 
velopment of his subject and in making his application 
he would become in his enthusiasm a veritable Boanerges. 
In his pastoral work he was particularly effective, kind, 
sympathetic and affectionate. During his term the usual 
and steady additions were made to the membership. Un- 
der his advice and counsel a large number of names were 
stricken from the roll or suspended by reason of removal 
without formal dismission and other causes, being the 
accumulation of many years. 

During the Spanish-American War in 1898, Dr. Hall 
was appointed Chaplain of the Second Regiment of In- 
fantry going from this locality, and faithfully served in 
the southern camps for several months, during which 
period he was given a leave of absence from his pastoral 
duties, which he resumed at the close of the war. 

On the 14th day of March, 1902, Dr. Hall read to the 
Session his purpose of closing his formal ministry in this 
church in which he says, "I have for some considerable 
time past been contemplating the propriety of withdraw- 
ing from the more active and stated duties of the Christian 
Ministry and of yielding place to a younger and abler man. 
I am in my thirty-fifth year of ordained pastoral work and 
feel the need of a period of retirement and rest. There- 
fore, with your consent at its approaching meeting, I will 
place my resignation in the hands of the Presbytery. 
I only desire you to believe that the memory of you all 
personally and your uniform kindness to me and mine 

[ 27 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

will abide with me while life endures, as one of the dearest 
treasures of my heart." 

In the minute adopted by the congregational meeting 
called to act on Dr. Hall's resignation there occurred the 
following passages : 

"During the entire period of his pastorate, Dr. Hall 
has labored patiently and unceasingly for the welfare of 
this church. 

"By his unfailing kindness and Christian courtesy, he 
has endeared himself to its members. His ministry has 
been one of unvarying service, with heart and life conse- 
crated to his chosen calling. His kind and loving minis- 
trations will always be a blessed memory to this people. 
His extraordinary knowledge of the Scriptures and his 
clear, forceful and straightforward presentation of Bible 
truth have always been an incentive to us to further study 
and research in the Scriptures, and have been an inspiration 
to attain to a higher plane of Christian living." 

The resignation of Dr. Hall was accepted by the 
Presbytery of Troy, April 22, 1902, to take effect the last 
Sabbath of April. 

Renovation and Improvement of Church Building. 

The subject of the observance of the Seventy-fifth 
Anniversary of the church at some time during the year 
1901, was presented at a meeting of the Session held Feb- 
ruary 4, 1901, and it was referred to a committee to con- 
sider and report later. Subsequently the committee re- 
ported that a question had arisen whether such an anni- 
versary should be held with the church building so seri- 
ously out of repair, nothing having been done to the in- 
terior for over twenty years. The matter was finally 
referred to a joint committee of Session and Trustees. At 

[ 28 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

such meeting it was expressed that a renovation of the 
church building would be of greater benefit to the church 
than the observance of an anniversary, if both could not 
be had. They thereafter appointed a committee consisting 
of Robert Cluett, Harvey S. McLeod, Frank Van Dusen, 
Edwin A. Frear and William H. Hollister, Jr., taken from 
the Session and Trustees, and authorized such committee 
to have prepared by a competent architect a set of plans 
for repairs, alterations and improvements, such as the com- 
mittee should deem advisable, and submit the same to a 
subsequent meeting. The committee procured Mr. Fred 
M. Cummings, an architect, who prepared elaborate in- 
terior plans with estimate of cost. After inspection the 
joint boards determined to submit the whole matter of 
plans and cost to the congregation at a morning service 
during the month of April. Thereupon on the day ap- 
pointed, the plans were presented and explained, occupy- 
ing the whole morning service, and the same were ap- 
proved and the work authorized with hearty unanimity. 

The same committee was continued and empowered 
to raise the funds and proceed with the work. The com- 
mittee procured subscriptions for over $20,000 and in 
July the work of repairs and alterations was begun. For 
nearly eleven months during the repairs the congregation 
held all services in the chapel. The auditorium was com- 
pleted and opened for services on the third Sabbath of 
May, 1902. The entire interior of the church had been 
changed both as to architecture and decorations. The 
extensive galleries were removed, only a balcony remain- 
ing at the eastern end, the organ was rebuilt, entirely new 
glass in windows, several class rooms made, and specially 
designed new pews placed. A new and costly brown stone 
and elaborately carved porch was added as a special gift 

[ 29 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

of Elder Robert Cluett, as a memorial to his father and 
mother. The entire outlay, including cost of construction 
of the porch and refurnishing, exceeded $40,000. 

Although the pastorate of Dr. Hall had terminated 
with the last Sabbath of April he was requested to con- 
tinue his services to include the opening of the recon- 
structed auditorium, which he did, the house being en- 
tirely filled on that occasion. 

Although thirteen years have passed since the resig- 
nation of Dr. Hall, it has been, and is, a source of great 
satisfaction to the people and to the succeeding pastors, 
to have him yet with us, after the lapse of the fourscore 
years allotment, modestly and faithfully rendering such 
service as he may be able to render from time to time, 
helping, cheering, and comforting many of this flock in 
the spirit of the Master, and beloved by both pastor and 
people. We are truly honored this day in having him 
present to participate in this reopening service. 

Pastorate of C. Waldo Cherry. 

After the resignation of Dr. Hall, the church was 
without a pastor until March, 1903, when an unanimous 
call was extended to Rev. C. Waldo Cherry, of Parnassus, 
Pa., who accepted the same and was installed on the 9th 
day of May, 1903, the sermon on that occasion being 
preached by Rev. A. C. Sewall, D.D., of the Second Street 
Presbyterian Church of Troy, the charge to the people by 
Rev. William M. Johnson, D.D., of the Silliman Memorial 
Church of Cohoes, and the charge to the pastor by Rev. 
George Dugan, of the Ninth Church of Troy. Mr. Cherry 
was a graduate of Princeton College and of the Western 
Theological Seminary. He came in all the strength, vigor 
and enthusiasm of his young manhood, being about thirty 

[ 30 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

years of age, and at once took a strong hold on the church 
and community by his pulpit work and general leadership. 
He was popular with the young people and soon secured 
a firm grip on them and enlisted them in the service of 
the church. He was instrumental in organizing the 
Brotherhood of the Church in 1906, which as a social 
factor soon became a vigorous association, with a mem- 
bership of over one hundred men, and for the last few 
years has been active in many things, especially material 
changes and improvements of the church. 

The electric lighting of the chapel and the changes in 
the interior glass, the laying of a concrete sidewalk in the 
front of the church, the installation of an ear phone, 
whereby those of defective hearing in the congregation 
may hear and more fully participate in the service, and 
invalids or "shut-ins" may enjoy such service by tele- 
phone connection between the pulpit and their homes, are 
among the improvements accredited to the Brotherhood. 

Among the objects of the Brotherhood as stated in 
the constitution, are, "to aid the pastor and Session, to 
give a definite work to every man in the church; to enlist 
their activity in Christian life and increase their devotion 
in the church, and to work among men who are not 
Christians, to the end that they may attend church ser- 
vices and eventually become professing Christians." It 
can and will surely become also a further and increasing 
spiritual power if it shall carry out the program of its 
purposes. 

Mr. Cherry soon grew into the foremost rank as a 
preacher, and had an extraordinary power and style of 
expression, and presented the truth in an eloquent, yet 
simple, manner. After receiving and declining several 
calls elsewhere, and after eleven years of faithful and 

[ 31 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

successful service in this church, Mr. Cherry received an 
unanimous call to the Central Presbyterian Church of 
Rochester, one of the largest in our denomination, and his 
resignation being accepted with much regret, he v^as dis- 
missed by the Presbytery of Troy on the 21st day of April, 
1914, to take up the work in his new field. 

Call of William L. Sawtelle. 

At the congregational meeting held on the 27th day 
of February, 1914, when the resignation of Mr. Cherry 
was acted on, a committee composed of elders, trustees, 
deacons and unofficial members of the congregation, was 
appointed to take steps to procure and nominate a new 
pastor, with this suggestion, that "when the person unani- 
mously agreed upon by the committee should be presented, 
such person would be deemed worthy of favorable con- 
sideration by the congregation, in the absence of any facts 
to the contrary." The committee was composed as 
follows: Robert Cluett, Burton K. Woodward, John T. 
Birge and William H. Hollister, Jr., from the Session; 
William B. Frear and Thomas R. Lawson, from the 
Trustees; James A. Beattie and Edwin A. Grimes, from 
the Deacons, and Oscar A. Freemyer and Robert B. 
Reeves, from the congregation. The committee was just 
six weeks, after the departure of Mr. Cherry, in finding 
such a man; and at a meeting of the congregation duly 
called for that purpose on the 2nd day of July, 1914, the 
name of Rev. William L. Sawtelle, of Elmira, N. Y., a 
graduate of Williams College (1894) and of Auburn Sem- 
inary (1897), was unanimously presented by the commit- 
tee as one possessing, in their judgment, all the require- 
ments and qualifications for the pastorate, and thereupon 
by a standing vote of the one hundred seventy-five mem- 

[ 32 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

bers present, the judgment of the committee was ratified, 
and Mr. Sawtelle was extended an unanimous call to be- 
come the pastor. In due time the call was accepted and 
Mr. Sawtelle was installed on the 13th day of October, 
1914, as the eleventh pastor of this church, and is now 
making history for himself and for the church, through 
the power of the Spirit of God, and the sympathy and 
support of a satisfied, loving and loyal people. At his in- 
stallation the sermon was preached by Rev. George A. 
Armstrong of Silliman Memorial Church, Cohoes; the 
charge to the pastor by Rev. Charles H. Walker, First 
Church, Lansingburgh ; the charge to the people by Rev. 
C. Waldo Cherry, retiring pastor, and the installation 
prayer by Rev. Alvin C. Sawtelle, of Binghamton, N. Y., 
brother of the pastor. 

Sons of the Church Who Have Gone into the Ministry. 

This church has a record of fifteen young men from 
its membership who have been ordained to the Christian 
ministry, as follows: Norman Kellogg, Merwin H. 
Stewart, Henry Augustus Boardman, John Jay Dana, 
Paul Eugene Stevenson, William R. Burnett, John K. 
Davis, Henry Willard, John M. Allis, Valentine A. Lewis, 
John Henry Lockwood, James Henry Ross, Thomas 
Blatchford Boughton, Dwight Edwards Marvin and 
Joseph Hillman Hollister. 

It may be of historical interest to consider briefly 
the record of some of the sons of the church concerning 
whom facts have been obtainable and to whose Christian 
accomplishments this church may point with a great 
degree of satisfaction. 

Of some of the earlier names there seems to be no 
record whatever preserved other than the meagre mem- 

[ 33 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

oranda on our church register, and concerning whom 
further information seems impossible to be obtained. 

Rev. Norman Kellogg was at one time settled at 
Mishawaka, 111. 

Rev. John Jay Dana is recorded to have settled at 
Canaan, N. Y., in 1847, and at some time in Adams, Mass. 

Rev. Paul Eugene Stevenson was installed at one 
time over a Presbyterian Church at Staunton, Va. 

Rev. Henry Willard for many years was a pastor in 
Illinois. 

Perhaps the most noted of the church's children was 
the Rev. Henry Augustus Boardman, D.D. He was born 
in Troy, January 8, 1808; graduated at Yale College in 
1829 as valedictorian of his class; entered Princeton Sem- 
inary in 1830; ordained by the Third Presbytery of Phila- 
delphia, and installed as pastor of the Tenth Presbyterian 
Church of Philadelphia in 1833, which church he served 
until 1876 as his first and only pastorate, for a period of 
forty-three years. Thereafter he held the relation of 
pastor emeritus until his decease in 1880, in his seventy- 
third year. In 1854 Dr. Boardman was chosen moderator 
of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (Old 
School). He was a director of Princeton Seminary from 
1835 until his decease in 1880. He was prominent in all 
the church's assemblies, wise in his counsels, of large 
literary attainments, and the author of a number of 
volumes on themes of public interest. While Dr. Board- 
man was of the conservative school in theology, he always 
commanded the respect and admiration of his opponents 
by his fair and courteous treatment both of them and the 
subjects of controversy. 

The foreign field has been most faithfully served by 
the Rev. John Mather Allis, D.D., who was born in Dan- 

[ 34 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

ville, Province of Quebec, Canada, in 1839, and became 
a member of this church in 1859. He was educated at 
Princeton College, graduated in 1866, and finished his 
theological course at Union Seminary, New York City, 
in 1869. He was ordained by the Presbytery of Albany 
in 1870. His first pastorate was in Lansing, Mich., from 
1871 to 1875, and from 1875 to 1883 served as stated 
supply in several churches in California, Ohio and Indiana. 
In 1883 he was appointed by the Foreign Missionary Board 
of the Presbyterian Church to take charge of a normal 
training department for native teachers which was pro- 
posed to be established in Valparaiso, Chile, but the plan 
was not consummated and thereupon he took charge of 
the theological training of native ministers under the 
care of the Presbyterian Mission at Santiago, and became 
the president of this mission. In the prosecution of his 
work he travelled the whole length of the Republic of 
Chile preaching the gospel with great fervor and effective- 
ness. He died at Valparaiso after sixteen years of faithful 
labors, in 1899, at the age of fifty-nine years. 

Rev. Valentine A. Lewis was born in London, Eng- 
land, and was received into this church in 1860. He be- 
came a student at Princeton College and was graduated 
there in 1863. In connection with his college course he 
studied theology with the Rev. Joseph T. Duryea, then 
the pastor of this church, and was ordained by the Presby- 
tery of Troy in January, 1864. During his student course 
at Princeton he went from Troy with the Second Regiment 
U. S. Volunteers, as Chaplain, in the War of the Rebellion, 
and in 1861 he was stationed at Fortress Monroe, but this 
service continued for only a few months as the govern- 
ment determined not to allow an unordained person to be 
a chaplain in the Army. From 1864 to 1888 he served in 

[ 35 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

the following pastorates: Port Chester, N. Y. ; Cleve- 
land, Ohio; Hillside, Mich.; Port Byron, N. Y. ; Phelps, 
N. Y. ; Napa, Cal., and Boston, Mass. He died at Dans- 
ville, N. Y., in 1899. 

Rev. John Henry Lockwood w^as born in Troy and 
became a member of this church in 1866 upon certificate 
from the Second Street Presbyterian Church of Troy. 
He entered Williams College and was there graduated 
in the class of 1868. His theological course was taken at 
Princeton Seminary, graduating in 1871. During his 
Seminary course he became a member of the Fifth Avenue 
Presbyterian Church, New York City, and was licensed 
to preach by the Presbytery of New York in the spring of 

1870, and during that year he spent some time in Minne- 
sota under the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions, 
and organized a Presbyterian Church at Wells, Minn. 
He was ordained by the classis of Cayuga in 1871 and 
installed over the Reformed Church of Canastota in No- 
vember of that year. In May, 1873, he became the pastor 
of the New England Congregational Church of Brooklyn, 
in 1879 was installed over the First Congregational Church 
of Westfield, Mass., and continued there in the active pas- 
torate until 1896, when he retired and became pastor 
emeritus. After his retirement from the active pastorate 
he removed to Springfield, Mass., where he now resides 
(1916). 

Rev. Dwight Edwards Marvin, D.D., was born in 
Greenwich, Washington County, N. Y., February 22, 1851. 
He became a member of this church upon certificate from 
the Reformed Dutch Church of Nyack, N. Y., in June, 

1871. From that time and for several years he was en- 
gaged in active business life in the City of Troy and de- 
voted much of his time and energy to the activities and 

[ 36 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

interests of this church, especially in connection with the 
Young People's Christian Union. These activities are 
remembered by many of his associates of that day with 
great pleasure and in some measure doubtless contributed 
to his further successful labors in the ministry. He took 
his theological course at Auburn Theological Seminary 
and graduated in 1880, thereafter pursuing a post-grad- 
uate course at Union Theological Seminary of New York. 
In 1881 he was ordained by a Congregational Council and 
became the pastor of the First Congregational Church at 
East Albany (now Rensselaer) where he continued in his 
pastorate until 1884. Subsequently he became pastor of 
the following churches, to wit : Plymouth Congregational 
Church, Utica, N. Y., from 1884 to 1888; First Congrega- 
tional Church, Germantown, Philadelphia, from 1888 to 
1900; First Congregational Church, Asbury Park, N. J., 
from 1900 to 1902; Flatbush Presbyterian Church, Brook- 
lyn, N. Y., from 1902 to 1910. 

In 1911 after his retirement from the active pastorate 
he took up his residence at Summit, N. J., where he still 
resides (1916). Dr. Marvin devoted much time to literary 
work and has become the author of several volumes which 
have been published and very largely circulated on the 
following topics: Winning Souls; The Christ Man; The 
Church and Her Prophets ; How to Excel ; Common Sense 
Parents, and Curiosities in Proverbs. 

Rev. James Henry Ross was born in Troy August 
21, 1851, and was received into the membership of this 
church in 1866 upon examination. His preparatory course 
was taken at the Troy High School and he entered Prince- 
ton College in 1870, graduating there in the class of 1874. 
He made an excellent reputation while in college as a 
writer and speaker, taking the highest honors given for 

[ 37 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

these accomplishments. His theological course was be- 
gun in Union Seminary, New York City, and completed 
at Princeton Seminary, where he graduated in 1877. He 
was ordained by an Ecclesiastical Congregational Coun- 
cil at Newburyport, Mass., February 22, 1878, and at the 
same time was installed as pastor of the Fourth (after- 
wards Prospect Street) Congregational Church of New- 
buryport, which he served until 1882. He was pastor of 
the Congregation^al Church at South Norwalk, Conn., 
from 1884 to 1888, and of the Franklin Street Congrega- 
tional Church of East Somerville, Mass., from 1888 to 
1893. Thereafter he had no settled pastorate. After 1894 
Mr. Ross devoted himself largely to journalism and pub- 
lished a number of sermons and essays. In 1894 he pub- 
lished the Life of Robert Ross, Martyr, and in 1901, 
Hymns and Singers of the Young Men's Christian Asso- 
ciation. He was greatly interested in hymnology and pub- 
lished many articles upon that subject in the religious 
press. He edited the proceedings of the American Mis- 
sionary Association during the last fifteen years of his life. 
For some time before his decease his health had been very 
seriously impaired and he died at Clifton Springs, N. Y., 
December 7, 1907, in his fifty-seventh year and was buried 
at Newburyport, the place of his first pastorate. 

The church has been very successfully represented in 
the Home Mission Field of the West by the Rev. Thomas 
Blatchford Boughton, a son of a beloved Elder of this 
church, Ezra W. Boughton. He was born in Troy Sep- 
tember 4, 1859, and was received into membership of this 
church at the age of twelve years, in the year 1871. He 
received his preparatory education in the Troy Public 
Schools; entered Lafayette College and was graduated 
with the class of 1881. He taught one year in the Troy 

[ 38 ] 



SECOND presbytp:rian church of troy, n. y. 

High School after graduation, and thereafter in 1882 en- 
tered Union Theological Seminary at New York, and com- 
pleted his course at that institution. Immediately there- 
after he took up home missionary work in Parker, South 
Dakota, under the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions 
where he remained for fourteen years. He organized and 
served as pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Parker, 
which soon became self-sustaining, and organized also, 
and supplied during much of that period, two other 
churches within a radius of nine miles. By reason of im- 
paired health he retired from pastoral work in 1899. In 
1907 he became librarian and student adviser in Huron 
College, South Dakota, where he died April 23, 1909, 
while in the active work of the college. His whole life 
was therefore devoted to Christian activities in the Home 
Mission field of South Dakota, and he is remembered with 
the greatest affection by many in the church who knew 
him both as a youth, and as actively engaged in the 
Christian ministry. 

The latest of the fifteen young men of this church to 
enter the ministry, and the only one now in the active pas- 
torate, is Rev. Joseph Hillman Hollister, also a son of an 
elder, who was born in Troy, March 22, 1882, and united 
with this church at the age of twelve years. He was pre- 
pared for college at the Troy academy; entered Williams 
College in 1900, and was graduated with the class of 1904. 
In the fall of the same year he entered Union Theological 
Seminary at New York and completed his course in 1907. 
At graduation he was called to the First Presbyterian 
Church of Valatie, Columbia County, N. Y., and was there 
ordained and installed into the pastorate of that church by 
the Presbytery of Columbia in July, 1907. He remained in 
that pastorate for four years. In March, 1911, he was 

[ 39 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y, 



called to the First Presbyterian Church of Mount Vernon, 
Westchester County, N. Y., and was installed in June 
following. He is now (1916) pastor of that church. 

The Elders. 

Conspicuous for faithfulness and devotion to the church 
as is the record of its eleven pastors, it can be said with 
justice and truthfulness, that the record of its eldership 
has not fallen behind in those qualities. 

There have been forty-nine Elders chosen since its 
organization. They were elected and have served as 
follows : 



In 


1827- 


-Gurdon Corning 


. . Served until 


1842 — Dismissed 






James Wallace 


« 


II 


1842 — Died in service 






Alsop Weed 


« 


II 


1864 — Died in service 






Gurdon Grant 


" 


" 


1837 — Dismissed 


In 


1830 — Stephen W. Dana 


« 


11 


1846 — Died in service 






Abram Nash 


« 


" 


1834 — Dismissed 






Hezekiah Thayer .... 


" 


" 


1843 — Dismissed 






Abram Van Tuyl 


« 


" 


1838 — Dismissed 






George Vail 


" 


" 


1834 — Dismissed 


In 


1839- 


-Joseph H. Shepard . . 


II 


" 


1842 — Dismissed 






Thomas W. Blatchford 


II 


<i 


1842 — Dismissed 






Charles H. Kellogg . . 


II 


" 


1847 — Dismissed 






Ebenezer Bell 


" 


" 


1866 — Died in service 






Robert D. Silliman ... 


(( 


II 


1866 — Died in service 


In 


1843- 


—Gurdon Grant 


II 




1861 — Died in service 




(Returned and re-electc 










Daniel Sackett 


i< 


.1 


1845 — Died in service 
1851 — Dismissed 




John F. Rogers 


II 






Harvey Church 


II 


II 


1877 — Died in service 






Ezra W. Boughton . . . 


II 


" 


1892 — Died in service 


In 


1849 — William Wheeler .... 


II 


11 


1851 — Dismissed 






Zenophen Haywood . 


II 


" 


185s — Dismissed 






Homer Merriam 


II 


II 


1855 — Dismissed 






Elisha Talmadge 


II 


" 


1858 — Died in service 


In 


18^7- 


-Peter McDoual 


« 


" 


i860 — Died in service 






Hiram D. Pierce 


i( 


II 


1866 — Died in service 






John Harrison 


II 


II 


1901 — Died in service 




Edward N. Dauchy . . 


i< 


1868 — Dismissed 


In 


1862- 


— Eleazer A. Peck 


II 


" 


1887 — Died in service 






T. Newton Willson . . 


II 


II 


1889 — Died in service 






Frederick P. Allen . . . 


" 


II 


1911^ — Died in service 






Franklin Field 


II 


" 


1904 — Died in service 


In 


1884- 


—Harvey S. McLeod . . . 






— Still serving 






William H. Hollister, 


Jr. 




— Still serving 



[ 40 ] 




Photographs of all who have served as Elder 



from its organization 




f The Second Presbyterian Church of Troy, 
1827 to April, 191 7. 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Andrew Sawyer Served until 1891 — Dismissed 

In 1888— William V. Baker " " 191 1— Died in service 

John C. House " " 1897 — Died in service 

James H. Potts " " 1891— Released from 

the Eldership at 
own request. 

Robert Cluett —Still serving 

In 1891 — Edwin A. Frear " " 1905 — Released from 

active service 
and afterwards 
dismissed. 
Charles D. Campbell .... " " 1895 — Dismissed 

Edward H. Boughton . . . — Still serving 

In 1903 — Charles D. Campbell — Still serving 

(Returned and re-elected) 

John T. Birge — Still serving 

Charles S. Dean — Still serving 

William Hagen — Still serving 

Burton K. Woodward . . . — Still serving 

Lewis W. Raymond — Still serving 

In 1907 — Edwin Veghte " " 1909 — Dismissed 

Martin H. Walrath — Still serving 

George B. Ehrmann — Still serving 

William H. Breese, Jr. .. — Still serving 



Of the forty-nine Elders who have been thus chosen, 
twelve now remain in active service. Those who have 
passed to their reward have been men of great consecration 
to the work of the church, and are deserving of all honor 
as faithful and efficient servants of the church they dearly 
loved. They were men of sterling character and deep 
devotion to the interests of the Kingdom of God. While 
it may not be possible here to record at length their biog- 
raphies, yet they are all well worthy of such mention and 
some of them are well remembered by many of our pres- 
ent membership, notwithstanding the fact that they be- 
gan their official life in the church's early history and 
nearly three-quarters of a century ago. 

Harvey Church and Ezra W. Boughton were chosen 
to the eldership in 1843, only sixteen years after the 
church's beginning, and yet their faces are familiarly re- 
membered by many present to-day. The former united 

[ 41 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

with the church three years after its organization, and for 
about twenty years was the Clerk of the Session. It is said 
of him that he knew much of the personal history of nearly 
every one whose name had been enrolled in the member- 
ship. He had a warm sympathy with, and a great interest 
in, young people. The writer well remembers that even in 
Elder Church's advanced years, he was rarely absent from 
any meeting of the Young People's Christian Union, 
usually leading in the service of song with his high and 
clear tenor voice. 

Ezra W. Boughton became as a youth a member of 
the Sabbath School at its organization, and continued 
such as either scholar, teacher or superintendent for about 
sixty years, and until physical infirmities prohibited his 
activities, thus extending his Sabbath School experiences 
over the first nine pastorates of the church — a record 
unique in its history. Elder Boughton's term of service con- 
tinued until within a few months of a half century ; during 
that time it has been said of him that the work of the 
church became and continued to be the one enthusiasm 
of his life. His kindly sympathy, his cordial greeting and 
the great generosity of his nature will ever remain in the 
memory of those who had the privilege of association 
with him. 

Following in close recollection is Elder John Har- 
rison, who was elected in 1857, and who served for nearly 
forty-four years, and until the time of his decease. Big 
in body and great in soul, his noble nature responded to 
every call of duty and personal sympathy, and nothing 
was too much or too difficult for him to undertake when 
the call came. 

In 1862 another class of elders was chosen. These 
were all men strong in purpose and character who served 
the church with both zeal and efificiency. 

[ 42 1 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y 

Elder Eleazer A. Peck, who may be termed and re- 
membered as the ''beloved John" of the Session, served 
for twenty-five years; Prof. T. Newton Wilson, scholar 
and teacher, served for twenty-seven years; Franklm 
Field, friend, companion, and wise adviser to all who 
sought his counsels, served for forty-two years, twenty- 
two years of which were as the Clerk of the Session, and 
Frederick P. Allen, brilliant in thought and faithful m 
service, continued to within three months of the half- 
century mark, the longest term in the church's history. 
These were strong men in their day and made a deep 
impression on those who came in contact with them as 
the officials of the church, as men of great character, 
Christian devotion and efficiency in the work of the 
Kingdom. 

Many of us remember also with great esteem and 
personal affection those who were subsequently chosen 
to the Eldership and who after shorter terms have en- 
tered into rest, leaving a precious memory of consecrated 
lives in the service of the church which will long endure. 
Of these are Elders Andrew Sawyer, John C. House, 
William V. Baker and Edwin A. Frear. 

For the last sixty years the Session has had but 
three who have served as clerk of that body, Elders 
Church, Field and the present clerk. 

A collection of photographs of all the Elders from 
the beginning in 1827, with the exception of four whose 
portraits had never been taken, has been made by the 
clerk and the same was framed and presented to the 
church at Easter, 1913, and now hangs in the Chapel. 
These were gathered from all sources, many retaken from 
daguerreotypes, ambrotypes, ivory-types and paintings. 

[ 43 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

The Deacons. 

Until 1907, this church had chosen but nine deacons 
from the time of its organization, and there were never 
more than two serving at one time. 

While it had been often advised and advocated be- 
fore, during Dr. Hall's ministry, that a larger board of 
deacons should be chosen, yet it was delayed in accom- 
plishment until 1907, during the pastorate of Mr. Cherry. 
At that time the number of the board of deacons was 
enlarged to thirteen. Such action has proven beneficial 
to the church in stimulating the activities of some in 
Christian service who heretofore had not had this oppor- 
tunity so well presented. 

The following are the persons who have been chosen 
to and have held that office at some time since the church's 
organization : 

In 1827 — Abram Nash and John Thomas. 

In 1839 — Warren L. Adams. 

In 1849 — William W. Wight and Ethan Armstrong. 

In 1857 — Thomas Goldsmith. 

In 1884 — Allen R. Williams and Hiram W. Gordinier. 

In 1891 — Nelson M. Hayner. 

In 1907 — J. Erwin Anthony, Thomas L. Blackburn, 
Herbert C. Betts, Arthur C. Dickinson, 
James H. Fairweather, Leo C. Grathwol, 
Henry McWhinnie, Burtis A. Raeder, 
George Sinclair and W. Fisk Stevens. 

In 1909 — Edwin L. Grimes and Alexander Meekin. 

In 1910— George A. Ross. 

In 1911 — James A. Beattie and William Colvin, Jr. 

In 1915 — John McBride, Oscar A. Freemyer, Freder- 
ick M. McCoubrey and Judson W. J. Rogers. 

[ 44 ] 






ID 



J2 




^ J 



fjj -a 



1 I 

2 ^ 



^ 1 

I ^ 






SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

The Sabbath School. 

The Sabbath School was organized in March, 1828, 
the year following the organization of the church by the 
Presbytery of Troy. A Sabbath School had been main- 
tained for some time by the First church of Troy in this 
locality, and this school was then taken over, assumed, 
and maintained by this church under the management 
of a committee of three of the original elders, Gurdon 
Corning, James Wallace and Alsop Weed. Subsequently 
Mr. Wallace was made superintendent. The names of 
the superintendents with the dates of their election (ex- 
cept that of Mr. Wallace which is not definitely known 
because of the destruction of the records by fire) are 
as follows : 

James Wallace — Date of election not known; prob- 
ably in 1828 or 1829. 
Stephen W. Dana— 1833. 
Charles H. Kellogg— 1844 
Homer Merriam — 1847. 
Elisha Talmadge— 1849. 
Ezra W. Boughton— 1858. 
Frederick P. Allen— 1867 
Wm. H. Hollister, Jr.— 1878. 
Robert Cluett— 1883. 
William V. Baker— 1893. 
Robert Cluett— 1896. 
William Hagen— 1905. 

The superintendent or assistant has always been a 
member of the session. 

The Missionary Societies. 

This church has always been imbued with a true 
missionary spirit, and especially among its women. 

[ 45 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

The Woman's Church Missionary Society was organ- 
ized in 1870, for the purpose of maintaining a local mis- 
sionary to visit and minister to the sick and destitute of 
the community. For about thirty years Miss Joanna T. F. 
Willett has faithfully served as the church missionary 
under this society. 

In January, 1872, the Woman's Foreign Missionary 
Society was organized, and through its activities the 
church's interest in the foreign work has been materially 
increased. The interests of this society have been largely 
in Siam and Persia. For a time it supported a missionary 
in Siam, and has contributed to work in Persia, and other 
special fields as suggested by the Foreign Board. 

The Woman's Home Missionary Society was organ- 
ized in 1880, and has contributed to work among the 
Mormons, mountaineers and freedmen, as well as to many 
other general home mission objects. 

In 1902 the two Missionary Societies were consoli- 
dated into one society under the name of the Woman's 
Missionary Society, as a single organization divided into 
home and foreign branches. 

In 1913, this church united in the general plan of the 
Foreign Board of securing one hundred and sixty new 
men that year to go into the Foreign Field. Through 
the powerful presentation to our congregation of the 
needs and the plan by Rev. Frank W. Bible, one of the 
Missionaries of the Board in China, personal subscrip- 
tions amounting to $1,000 a year for a term of three years 
were made by members of the congregation for the pur- 
pose of maintaining a missionary of its own. As a result 
of this movement, the Rev. Alonzo Alden Pratt was sent 
to China, as our pastor in the foreign field, and is now 
laboring in Ko-Chow, China. At the congregational meet- 

[ 46 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

ing in March, 1916, the plan of individual subscriptions 
for this special purpose was discontinued and the full 
amount of one thousand dollars was placed in the general 
benevolence budget for that special purpose. 

Mr. Pratt is a son of Rev. James R. Pratt, once an 
elder in the Ninth Church, and afterwards ordained to 
the ministry. 

In 1829 the Ladies' Industrial Society was organized 
for work within the bounds of the church and continued 
under that name until 1907, when it was reorganized under 
the name of the Woman's Church Society, for the purpose 
of strengthening and increasing the work of the church 
in its religious, social and material features. It has been 
active in various departments of church work, and has 
proved itself of great value in enlisting the service of prac- 
tically all the women of the church. 

Twentieth Century Birthday Service. 

An event of unusual interest occurred on the night 
of December 31, 1900, when the whole congregation met 
in a service of thanksgiving and prayer in the church two 
hours before midnight, and continued the same until after 
the hour when the nineteenth century had passed and the 
twentieth century had begun. For some time the pastor 
and session had it in mind to hold such a service, and a 
special efifort to secure attendance was made by the use 
of printed invitations, sent to every individual and family, 
and also by affording conveyances to the church on that 
occasion for the aged and infirm, who otherwise would be 
denied the privilege. The service was termed a "Birthday 
Service of the Twentieth Century," and the invitations 
signed by the pastor and session read partly as follows: 

"We therefore cordially invite every member and 

[ 47 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

family of this church and congregation to a service of 
thanksgiving and prayer in the church on the night of 
December 31, 1900, at ten o'clock. The service w^ill con- 
tinue until after midnight, when the new^ century will 
begin, and will be under the leadership in turn of the 
Session, the Sabbath School, and the Young People's 
Christian Union. A roll book for the signatures of every 
person in attendance will be provided and kept as a me- 
morial of this historical occasion." 

As a matter of fact over four hundred people attended 
the service, and the signatures of three hundred and forty- 
seven of those were obtained and are now preserved as a 
part of the records and archives of the church. As the 
bell tolled out the hour of midnight, and marked the pass- 
ing of the old century, the whole congregation was bowed 
in prayer, led by the pastor. Dr. Hall, and the services 
closed ten minutes later. 

The following is a brief account of the service as it 
substantially appeared in the Troy Record on the follow- 
ing morning, January 1, 1901: 

NOTABLE SERVICE IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
WELCOME OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 

"Make a joyful noise all ye Lands" was read by 
William H. Hollister, Jr., at the opening of the services 
in the Second Presbyterian Church last evening, and over 
four hundred voices responded "Serve the Lord with 
Gladness, Come before His Presence with Song," and 
thus alternating they read the 100th and the 134th Psalms, 
after which Elder John Harrison, father of the session, 
in a voice that at times trembled with emotion, thanked 
God for past blessings, and invoked future guidance on 
church and people. 

The Pastor, Rev. Dr. Hector Hall, and the entire 
Session were present as follows: Elders John Harrison, 

[ 48 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Franklin Field, Frederick P. Allen, William V. Baker, 
Robert Ouett, Edward H. Boughton, Harvey S. McLeod, 
Edwin A. Frear and William H. Hollister, Jr. 

Mrs. Hector Hall sang "We Are Going to His Palace, 
Going to a Better Land." Elder Hollister in continuing 
the service said that the meeting at this particular time 
might be founded on sentiment, but it was a sentiment 
that made men better and stronger for service as the 
centuries of Christianity follow each other in succession. 

The pastor, Dr. Hall, read a telegram from the former 
pastor. Dr. William Irvin, containing hearty congratula- 
tions to pastor and people, and best wishes for the new 
year and the new century. Several letters of greeting 
were read, among them one from Andrew Sawyer, of 
Hartford, Conn., a former member of the session. 

Dr. Hall said that the watch night service was insti- 
tuted by the Scotch Presbyterians when they gave up 
celebrating Christmas. 

Fred C. Comstock sang "O How Precious Are the 
Lessons That I Learn at Jesus' Side." 

Elder Robert Cluett, then taking charge of the meet- 
ing at this point in behalf of the Sunday School, called 
attention to the fact that Miss Cerynthia M. Sheldon, who 
was a member of the Sabbath School when it was organ- 
ized in 1828, seventy-two years before, was present. Mr. 
Cluett read the names of past superintendents and said 
that the Sabbath School had always manifested a spirit of 
devotion to the study of God's word. 

He then called upon Elder Frederick P. Allen, the 
oldest ex-superintendent in point of service, who told of 
his connection with the school when sessions were held in 
the old Sixth Street Church, and of Elder Ezra W. Bough- 
ton, of blessed memory, who had extended to him the 
Mosaic invitation "Come with Us and We Will Do Thee 
Good." Elder Hollister spoke in terms of deepest grati- 
tude of the influence of Elder Field, and of the departed 
Elders Peck and Boughton, together with that of Mrs. 
Peck and Miss Clarissa Weed, as teachers in the Sabbath 
School. 

[ 49 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Elder Baker followed, speaking of the beginning and 
progress of the Young Men's Christian Association of 
Troy and the Young People's Christian Union of this 
church and kindred organizations during the last century. 

Mr. James A. Beattie, president of the Young People's 
Christian Union, called attention to the fact that the 
Young People's Christian Union had existed for one-third 
of a century, and then introduced Elder Harvey S. Mc- 
Leod, its first president, who told of its organization in 
1867, being one of the first, if not the first, of its kind. 
Dr. Irvin had given its motto "More united and earnest 
effort in the cause of Christ." The object has been to stir 
the young to higher aims and nobler ambitions. 

Miss Ten Eyck then sang "Sweet Hour of Prayer." 

Dr. Hall at the close of the prayer which was offered 
during the passing of the old and the beginning of the 
new century, extended the greeting of the pastor and 
session to those assembled, and wished them a happy new 
century; and after all had united in singing 

"God of our fathers, whose Almighty hand 
Leads forth in beauty all the starry band," 

the pastor pronounced the benediction, which was fol- 
lowed by a general New Year and New Century greeting 
and the signing of the midnight roll. 

Day of Prayer and Conference. 

In February, 1905, the session set apart the following 
March 10th to be observed by the church as "a day of 
special prayer and conference" with reference to the spir- 
itual condition and activities of the church. This enlisted 
so much interest that it has been followed every year 
since with the addition of special evening services during 
the week on which the day of conference falls, and with 
which it closes. It has frequently been appointed to im- 
mediately precede the March communion service, and thus 
the special day of prayer has often been concluded with 

[ 50 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

the preparatory lecture. A printed program of topics of 
special spiritual interest has been usually prepared and 
brief addresses made by the pastor, members of the 
session, and occasionally by other members of the church, 
the program covering three services, morning, afternoon 
and evening. This custom, now^ observed for more than 
ten years, has been considered to be of great help in the 
development of the spiritual life and character of members 
of the church. 

The Communion as a Separate Service. 

It has been the custom of this church from time im- 
memorial to hold a special and separate service in the 
afternoon for the celebration of the Lord's supper. While 
this is an unusual custom in churches, it has been thought 
to have been observed here from the beginning of the 
organization, or at least so long that the "memory of man 
runneth not to the contrary," and has been found to be 
of special interest and solemnity in its observance in that 
manner. 

The New Year's Morning Meeting. 

It has been also the custom of the church to hold a 
New Year's prayer meeting in the chapel on the morning 
of New Year's Day, which custom has been observed fully 
sixty years, if not more. It may be noted that the late 
Elder F. P. Allen had attended every such meeting, as 
he frequently stated, from the time of his coming to Troy 
in 1855, and this statement was repeated on the last New 
Year's service preceding his death in 1911. The meeting 
is led by the pastor and serves as a happy occasion of 
New Year greetings among the members, and a proper 
season to renew our consecration in Christian life and 
service. 

[ 51 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Membership Since Organization. 

The number of persons admitted to membership 
since the organization of the church to April 1, 1916, is 
3,813, of whom 1,926 were received on profession of their 
faith, and 1,887 on certificate from other churches, being 
an annual average of about 42. The nominal membership 
in April, 1916, is six hundred and ninety, but a careful 
pruning of the register would probably show scarcely more 
than five hundred and fifty in active connection with the 
church. This has come to pass largely by the removal of 
members from time to time, and their failure to take letters 
of dismission to the churches of their changed locality, or 
give any information as to their residence. This is a 
practice both to be deplored and discouraged, as it tends 
to give a fictitious value to the records of the church. 

Memorial Gifts. 

In addition to the memorial porch heretofore referred 
to there are but two memorials in the buildings. Prior 
to 1907, Mrs. Anna Swartwout Phelps of New York, had 
expressed a desire to erect a memorial in the church in 
memory of her father and mother, Henry and Maria K. 
Swartwout, who had been members of the church since 
1842 up to the time of their decease in 1892 and 1898 
respectively. In 1907 the desire materialized in the build- 
ing and presentation of a new organ, in conjunction with 
her brother, William M. Swartwout, then a member, at a 
cost of over $20,000. The organ was built by the 
Hutchings-Votey Co., of Boston, contains an echo organ 
and chimes, and is reputed to be one of the finest in tone, 
power, variety of expression, and excellence of construc- 
tion, of any such instrument outside the metropolitan 

[ 52 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

centers. The bronze tablet on the walls of the auditorium 
expresses the gift as follows: 



TO THE GLORY OF GOD 
AND IN LOVING MEMORY OF HER PARENTS 

HENRY SWARTWOUT 

AND 

MARIA KETELHUYN SWARTWOUT 

THE ORGAN OF THIS CHURCH 

WAS ERECTED BY THE GIFT OF 

ANNA SWARTWOUT PHELPS 

1907 



In 1914, Elder Harvey S. McLeod presented to the 
church a second memorial, and placed in the western end 
of the chapel, a beautiful window in loving memory of his 
wife, Mary Field McLeod, who became a member of this 
church in 1866, and died April 26, 1891. The window is 
not only beautiful in appearance but adds much to the 
comfort and utility of the chapel by greatly increasing its 
light. 

Gifts for Benevolent Fund. 

From time to time the church has received various 
gifts from legacies, and otherwise, the income of which 
is to be used for distribution among the poor, for Sunday 
School purposes, for clothing destitute children, furnish- 
ing books for the Sabbath School and for missionary pur- 
poses. These gifts have amounted to over $20,000 and 
are invested by the trustees, and the income is annually 
distributed by them through the proper channels. 

Those who have contributed to this fund deserve the 
gratitude of this people for their kindly gifts. The follow- 



[ 53 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

ing are the names of the donors with the objects of their 
benefactions: 

Clarence Willard, James H. Kellogg, J. Marshall 
Van Valkenburgh, Eliza Doolittle and Thomas Goldsmith, 
for the deacons' fund, used for the needy of the church ; 
Mrs. Lena E. Boughton and Katherine J. Boughton, for 
the work of the Woman's Home and Foreign Missionary- 
Societies ; Mrs. Jane N. Green, for books for the Sabbath 
School ; Jeremiah S. Hakes, for widows and orphans ; 
Mary O. Hall, Charlotte E. King and Ida L. Dusenberry, 
for the work of a church missionary, and William J. 
Howes, for clothing and Christmas presents for the 
children of the infant or primary department of the Sab- 
bath School. 

Amounts Expended for Congregational and Benevolent 

Purposes. 

Since 1876, there has been expended for congrega- 
tional purposes, including repairs, reconstruction, improve- 
ments and decoration of the church and chapel, upwards 
of $420,000. 

The amount of the benevolences of the church during 
the same period reported from time to time in the session 
reports to the Presbytery, has amounted to about 
$150,000. Of this sum $68,000 have been given to Home 
Missions, $43,000 for Foreign Missions, and the balance 
of $39,000 distributed through the other Boards of the 
church and for special objects. 

Systematic Envelope Giving. 

For more than fifty years the church has had some 
form of systematic giving through the envelope system, 
for its current expenses. This supplemented the pew rents 

[ 54 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

for church support. About 1912, an every-member canvass 
plan was introduced, and an enlarged committee was 
formed by the Church Finance Committee with instruc- 
tions to visit every member of the church and congre- 
gation, and solicit a pledge both for church support and 
for benevolences, the latter to be dispensed through the 
Church Boards in the ratios determined by the Session 
or as designated by the individual donors. This church 
was among the first to adopt the recommendation of the 
General Assembly, and the plan has been successful, yield- 
ing a larger return than formerly, both to church support 
and to general benevolences. By the visitation of the 
whole congregation through a large committee, espe- 
cially set apart at the morning service by the pastor in 
prayer (which was done at the canvasses of 1915 and 
1916) it became also a means of grace to the people as 
well as to the committee. It is possible that it may de- 
velop into the system of raising the entire church budget 
for current expenses, and thus discontinuing the system 
of pew renting as now practiced. 

This church has now nearly completed its ninetieth 
year as a civil, and its eighty-ninth as an ecclesiastical, 
organization. 

This sketch must necessarily be an imperfect and ab- 
breviated record of its life and activities, but it has been 
sought to make it as accurate, as far as it goes, as under 
the circumstances of its preparation it could be made. In- 
formation has been sought from a large number of sources, 
and the writer is greatly indebted to those who have so 
heartily responded to his requests for historical informa- 
tion beyond his own personal knowledge. 

To-day we re-enter our renovated and redecorated 
house of worship after an expenditure of over $8,000, due 

[ 55 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

very largely to the again repeated generosity of one of our 
members. This work has been done under the efficient 
management of a joint Committee of Trustees and Elders, 
of which the President of the Board of Trustees, Mr. 
Joseph McKay, is the chairman, to whom and to his asso- 
ciates by their patient and unremitting efforts for over 
three months, we are very largely indebted for these 
results. 

By our presence here to-day, we pledge anew our 
loyalty and devotion to this church with such a noble 
record, and to the Great Head of the Church from whom 
comes all our inspiration for Christian service. 



^ >i< ^ 



L 56 J 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

ADDENDA. 

[Note. — Since the foregoing sketch was prepared it has been 
deemed advisable to cover some further data with reference to the 
church not included therein, but all of which may properly be stated 
as falling within the first nine decades of the ecclesiastical life of 
the church.] 

Resignation of Mr. Sawtelle. 

In June, 1916, Rev. William L. Sawtelle received an 
unanimous call from the First Presbyterian Church of 
Scranton, Pa., and in July announced to the congregation 
his acceptance of the same. On September 17, 1916, his 
resignation was received by the Presbytery of Troy, and 
the pastoral relations were dissolved with this church, to 
take effect on that date. Mr. Sawtelle's pastorate was 
the briefest of any in the record of the church — somewhat 
less than two years. 

Mr. Sawtelle was a man of exceedingly strong per- 
sonality, of an almost infectious geniality, of great kind- 
ness and sympathy of disposition and a preacher of un- 
usual mental and spiritual power. It was with the deep- 
est regret that this people were called upon to yield to 
the demands of what appeared to be a field of wider oppor- 
tunity for pastoral service. 

The Reverend Stephen W. Dana, D.D. 

The Rev. John Jay Dana, referred to in the foregoing 
sketch, and who entered the ministry from this church, 
was the son of Stephen W. Dana, an elder from 1830 
to 1846. 

The Rev. Stephen W. Dana, a son of John Jay Dana, 
and a grandson of the elder Stephen W. Dana, was grad- 
uated in the class of 1861 at Williams College, ordained 
to the ministry by the Presbytery of Philadelphia in 1867, 
and was pastor of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church 

[ 57 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

of that city for nearly forty-five years, during which pas- 
torate he died, only a few years ago. 

Although probably born after the removal of his 
father from this church, it is worthy of note that he was 
a lineal descendant from an elder, and son of one who 
entered the ministry from this church. 

Descendants of Charter Members. 

So far as known there are now on the membership 
roll of this church only two direct descendants of those 
who were the original and charter members received in 
1827. They are, Mrs. Julius S. Hawley, granddaughter 
of Mrs. Susan Drake, wife of Doctor Samuel Drake, re- 
ceived from the First Presbyterian Church of Troy, and 
Miss Clara Stearns (who for nearly or quite twenty-five 
years has been the organist of the church), a grand- 
daughter of Mrs. Eliza Stearns, wife of Livy Stearns, 
received from the Reformed Dutch Church of Union Vil- 
lage, N. Y. 

Dr. Theodore Bliss. 

Among those once members of this church who have 
gone to the foreign field is Doctor Theodore Bliss, son 
of Mr. and Mrs. William Bliss, present members. He was 
received into membership of this church on examination 
in 1895, prepared for college at the Troy Academy, entered 
Cornell University in 1897, where he was duly graduated, 
and subsequently graduating at Cornell Medical College 
in New York. While a medical student he joined the 
"student volunteers" at Northfield, during his attendance 
there at a student conference. 

An offer of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Mis- 
sions of a place in one of its mission fields was offered 

[ 58 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

him, which, after due consideration, he decHned, and there- 
after took up the practice of medicine in Schenectady. 

In 1909 he received an emergency call from Saint 
Luke's Hospital at Tokyo, Japan, under the auspices of 
the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society of the 
Protestant Episcopal Church in the U. S. A. Not being 
then a member of the Episcopal Church he could not 
regularly be appointed to the medical staff of that hospital, 
but upon his confirmation in 1911, he received such ap- 
pointment. Doctor Bliss w^as afterwards transferred to 
Saint James's Hospital at Anking, China, where he is now 
laboring (1917) in the medical branch of missionary 
service. His work is spoken of with the highest com- 
mendation by those with whom he is associated, and who 
have full knowledge of his labors. 

Miss Helen Esther Boughton. 

Our latest representative in the foreign missionary 
field is Miss Helen Esther Boughton, daughter of Elder 
Edward H. Boughton, and granddaughter of the late 
Elder Ezra W. Boughton. 

Miss Boughton became a baptized member of this 
church in 1889, and in 1902 was received into full fellow- 
ship upon profession of her faith. 

She was educated in the public schools of Troy, grad- 
uated from the Troy High School in 1908, took her college 
course at Mount Holyoke College, and a secretarial course 
at Simmons College in Boston, Mass., followed by a busi- 
ness course at the Troy Business College. 

Miss Boughton sailed in May, 1917, to become the 
financial secretary of the American Presbyterian Mission 
at Hwaiyuen, Anhwei, China. 

All the mission work at this station is financed by the 

[ 59 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Central Presbyterian Church of New York City, under 
the auspices of the Presbyterian Foreign Mission Board. 
Miss Boughton is the first and only woman from this 
church who has dedicated her life to Christian work in 
the foreign field. 

Semi-Centennial of the Young People's Christian Union. 

If an event may be anticipated in a historical sketch, 
it will be noticed by reference to a preceding statement 
herein that in 1917 the Young People's Christian Union 
will have completed fifty years of its existence. It was 
organized in 1867 under the pastorate of Rev. William 
Irvin. In October, 1892, it celebrated with considerable 
formality and enthusiasm its twenty-fifth birthday under 
the name of "A Semi-Jubilee," and welcomed back at that 
time to participate in its exercises many of its members 
who had removed to other parts of the country. Again 
with imposing ceremonies on February 25, 1901, the 
"Third-of-a-Century" celebration was observed at which 
greetings were brought from most of the other young 
people's organizations of the city and vicinity. It is now 
proposed to celebrate its semi-centennial in an equally 
imposing manner, and already arrangements are under 
way for such observance in October, 1917. 

Rarely is it permitted to any charter member of an 
organization of this character to celebrate its half-hun- 
dredth anniversary, and yet there are those now here to 
whom this privilege is likely to be given. It is pleasant 
to present here the likenesses of all the twenty-eight mem- 
bers who have served for one or more terms in the office 
of president of the Young People's Christian Union of this 
church since its organization. 

[ 60 ] 




Presidents of Young People's Christian Union. 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

The Reverend Paul Robinson Hickok. 

The Rev. Paul Robinson Hickok, present pastor, was 
born in Nebraska in 1877. He was educated at the Col- 
lege of Wooster, Ohio, where he was graduated in the 
class of 1897. His theological course was taken at Auburn 
Seminary, where he graduated with the class of 1900. 
He was ordained to the ministry by the Presbytery of 
Wooster in August, 1900. For nearly three years, from 
1900 to 1902, he was assistant pastor of the Old Stone 
(First Presbyterian) Church in Cleveland, Ohio, and in 
1902 was called to the First Presbyterian Church of Dela- 
ware, Ohio, which church he served until 1909. 

In June of that year he became pastor of the Metro- 
politan Church of Washington, D. C, from whence he 
was unanimously called to this church in December, 1916, 
and began his pastorate here in January, 1917. He was 
duly installed as pastor on the 19th of February following. 

Mr. Hickok was called upon the unanimous recom- 
mendation of a committee of twelve representing the dif- 
ferent boards of the church and from the congregation 
at large; and in the space of but little more than two 
months after their appointment, they were ready to report 
their choice, which report was unanimously approved by 
the congregation on December 2, 1916, at which date a 
call was issued. 

Mr. Hickok is a trustee of his Alma Mater, the College 
of Wooster, and also a member of the Board of Church 
Erection Fund of the Presbyterian Church of U. S. A., 
both of which positions he has held for several years. 



[ 61 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization. 



Jeremiah Dauchy 
Jesse Patrick 



Samuel McCoun 
Joseph Russell 
Uriah Wallace 
John T. McCoun 
Jesse Patrick 



James Rankin 
Orsamus Eaton 

Daniel Sackett 



Robert D. Silliman 
Elias Ross 



Orsamus Eaton 
Daniel Sackett 
Robert D. Silliman 



Lorenzo D. Baker 
Elias Ross 



Uriah Wallace 
Robert D. Silliman 



1827 
Stephen Eldridge 
William D. Haight 

1828 
Samuel Gale 

1829 
Robert D. Silliman 

1830 
James Rankin 

1831 
Daniel Sackett 

1832 
William D. Haight Robert D. Silliman 

Stephen Eldridge 



John T. McCoun 



1833 
George Fry 



1834 ■ 
Nathaniel Church 

1835 
George Fry 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 

1836 
Edward Babcock 

1837 
John D. Willard 

1838 
Jeremiah S. Hakes George Fry 

1839 
Elias Gates Orsamus Eaton 

Edward Babcock 



John D. Willard 

Elias Ross 
Charles H. Kellogg 



Daniel Sackett 



John D. Willard 
1841 



Jeremiah S. Hakes George Fry 

[ 62 ] 



Elias Gates 
Lorenzo D. Baker 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 
Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization — (Continued). 



Jared S. Weed 
Timothy Mann 

John D. Willard 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 
Timothy Mann 
John D. Willard 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 
Timothy Mann 
Ephraim Carpenter 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 
Timothy Mann 
Ephraim Carpenter 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 
Timothy Mann 
Joseph W. Fuller 
Jeremiah S. Hakes 
Henry E. Weed 



1842 
Orsamus Eaton 

1843 
Ephraim Carpenter 

1844 
George Fry 

1845 
Orsamus Eaton 

1846 
Ephraim Carpenter 

1847 
George Fry 

1848 
Orsamus Eaton 

1849 
Jared S. Weed 

1850 
George Fry 

1851 
Jared G. Bacon 

1852 
Joseph W. Fuller 

1853 
George Fry 

1854 
Jared G. Bacon 

1855 
Gurdon B. Wallace 

1856 
George Fry 

i8S7 
Ransom B. Moore 

[ 63 ] 



Elias Ross 
Jared S. Weed 
Lorenzo D. Baker 
Jared G. Bacon 
Jared S. Weed 
Lorenzo D. Baker 
Jared G. Bacon 
Joseph W. Fuller 
Lorenzo D. Baker 
Henry E. Weed 
Hiram House 
Peter McDoual 
Henry E. Weed 
Samuel S. McClure 
Peter McDoual 
Eleazer A. Peck 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization — (Continued). 



i8s8 
Joseph W. Fuller G. B. Wallace 

Horace T. Caswell (To fill vacancy) 



Jeremiah S. Hakes 



1859 
George Fry 



i860 
Henry E. Weed Ransom B. Moore 

C. Willard (To fill vacancy) 

I86I 

Gurdon B. Wallace Horace T. Caswell 



Jeremiah S. Hakes 



1862 
George Fry 

1863 



Charles E. Dusenberry George C. Burdett 
Hiram House (To fill vacancy) 

1864 



Gurdon B. Wallace 



Lorenzo D. Baker 
John H. Coon 
(To fill vacancy) 

Frederick A. Lape 

(To fill vacancy) 



John H. Coon 



Horace T. Caswell 

186s 
William H. Gallup 
Ebenezer R. Collins 
(To fill vacancy) 

Henry Swartwout 
(To fill vacancy) 

1866 
Ebenezer R. Collins 



1867 
Charles E. Dusenberry Jacob C. Wood 



Clarence Willard 
Ebenezer R. Collins 



William H. Gallup 

1869 
Allen Williams 



1870 

Charles E. Dusenberry Jacob C. Wood 
William J. Howes Harvey Smith 

(To fill vacancy) (To fill vacancy) 



William Allendorph 



1871 
William H. Gallup 



Samuel S. McClure 

Peter McDoual 
Eleazer A. Peck 

Charles H. Bigelow 
Clarence Willard 
Harvey Smith 
Hiram House 



Henry C. Sheldon 
Jacob C. Wood 

(To fill vacancy) 



Allen Williams 
Frederick A. Lape 
Henry C. Sheldon 
John H. Coon 
Perry E. Toles 

Henry S. Ranken 



[ 64 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization — (Continued). 



1872 
Ebenezer R. Collins Allen Williams 



William J. Howes 
Perry E. Toles 



1873 
Charles E. Dusenberry Jacob C. Wood 

1874 
Henry S. Ranken William Allcndorph Charles E. Willett 



1875 
Ebenezer R. Collins Allen Williams 

1876 
Jacob C. Wood Frederick A. Lape 

John C. Wheeler (To fill vacancy) 

1877 
Charles E. Dusenberry William Allendorph 

1878 
William J. Howes John C. Wheeler 

Jacob C. Wood 

William H. Hollister, Jr. Daniel W. Coon 

William J. Howes 

Jacob C. Wood 

William H. Hollister, Jr. George A. Packer 

Allen Williams 

Robert Cluett 

1886 
William H. Hollister, Jr. George A. Packer 

Allen Williams 



1879 
John T. Christie 

1880 



1881 

Allen Williams 

1882 
Robert Cluett 



1883 



1884 
Charles E. Delano 

1885 
Frank Van Deusen 



1887 
William H. Frear 



William J. Howes 
John T. Christie 
Charles E. Willett 
Allen Williams 
Robert Cluett 
George A. Packer 
Charles E. Delano 
Henry B. Nims 
Daniel W. Coon 
William H. Frear 
Henry B. Nims 
Daniel W. Coon 
Charles E. Delano 



[ 65 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization — (Continued). 



William J. Stevenson Frank Van Densen Henry B. Nims 

Julius S. Hawley (To fill vacancy for 1 yr.) 

1889 
William H. HoUister, Jr. George A. Packer Julius S. Hawley 

H. E. Mitchell Henry G. Peirsons 

(To fill vacancy for 2 yrs.) (To fill vacancy for 1 yr.) 

1890 

Allen Williams Edwin A. Frear James H. Fairweather 

1891 
Henry B. Nims Frank Van Deusen Melancthon W, Campbell 

William P. Allendorph (To fill vacancy for 2 yrs.) 

1892 
William H. Hollister, Jr. George A. Packer Julius S. Hawley 

1893 
Edwin A. Frear James H. Fairweather William P. Allendorph 

1894 
Henry B. Nims Albert E. Bonesteel Frank Van Deusen 

1895 
William H. Hollister, Jr. George A. Packer Julius S. Hawley 

1896 
Edwin A. Frear James H. Fairweather William P. Allendorph 

John B. Harvie Edgar J. Young 

(To fill vacancy for 2 yrs.) (To fill vacancy for 1 yr.) 

1897 

Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young Albert E. Bonesteel 

1898 
William H. Hollister, Jr. Julius S. Hawley John B. Harvie 

1899 
Edwin A. Frear William P. Allendorph James H. Fairweather 

1900 
Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young Albert E. Bonesteel 

1901 
William H. Hollister, Jr. Julius S. Hawley John B. Harvie 

[ 66 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

Trustees and Date of Election Since Organization — (Continued). 



1902 

William P. Allendorph Edwin A. Frear 

1903 
Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young 



Joseph McKay 
Albert E. Bonesteel 



1904 
William H. Hollister, Jr. Julius S. Hawley John B. Harvie 



Edwin A. Frear 



1905 
William P. Allendorph Joseph McKay 



1906 



Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young 

William B. Frear (To fill vacancy for 2 yrs.) 

1908 
William H. Hollister, Jr. Julius S. Hawley 

1909 
William P. Allendorph Joseph McKay 

1910 
Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young 

1911 
William H. Hollister, Jr. John B. Harvie 

1912 
William P. Allendorph Joseph McKay 

1913 
Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young 

1914 
J. Erwin Anthony John B. Harvie 

1915 
William B. Frear Joseph McKay 

1916 
Frank Van Deusen Edgar J. Young 



Albert E. Bonesteel 

John B. Harvie 
William B. Frear 
Thomas R. Lawson 
J. Erwin Anthony 
William B. Frear 
Thomas R. Lawson 
Lewis W. Raymond 
William P. Allendorph 
Thomas R. Lawson 



[ 07 ] 



Sl'iCOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y 

Presidents of the Board. 

1855-1857 Jared G. Bacon 

1857- 1860 Peter McDoual 

1860-1861 George Fry 

1861-1863 Ransom B. Moore 

1863- 1865 Gurdon B. Wallace 

1865-1867 Lorenzo D. Baker 

1867-1876 Charles E. Dusenberry 

1876-1877 William J. Howes 

1877-1880 Charles E. Dusenberry 

1880-1882 John T. Christie 

1882-1914 William H. Hollister, Jr. 

1914- Joseph McKay 



Church Organization. 

(May, 1917) 



Moderator of Session 
Clerk of Session 

Harvey S. McLeod (1884) 
Robert Cluett (1888) 
John T. Birge (1903) 
Lewis W. Raymond (1903) 
William Hagen (1903) 
George B. Ehrmann (1907) 



Nelson M. Hayner (i8gi) 
Herbert C. Betts (1907) 
Burtis A. Raeder (1907) 
Edwin L. Grimes (1909) 
William Colvin, Jr. (1911) 
Oscar A. Freemeyer (1915) 



Paul R. Hickok (1917) 
William H. Hollister, Jr. (1899) 

Elders. 

William H. Hollister, Jr. (1884) 
Edward H. Boughton (1891) 
Charles S. Dean (1903) 
Burton K. Woodward (1903) 
William H. Breese, Jr. (1907) 
Martin H. Walrath (1907) 

Deacons. 

J. Erwin Anthony (1907) 
Arthur C. Dickinson (1907) 
James H. Fairweather (1907) 
James A. Beattie (1911) 
John McBride (1915) 
Frederick M. McCoubrey (1915) 



Judson W. J. Rogers (igis) 



Trustees. 



Frank Van Deusen (1885) 
Edgar J. Young (1896) 
Joseph McKay (1902) 
Thomas R. Lawson (1910) 



William P. Allendorph (18 
John B. Harvie (1896) 
William B. Frear (1906) 
J. Erwin Anthony (1911) 



)i) 



Lewis W. Raymond (1914) 



[ 68 ] 



SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF TROY, N. Y. 

President of Board of Deacons ----- Nelson M. Hayner 

President of Board of Trustees ----- Joseph McKay 

Secretary of Board of Trustees ----- William P. Allendorph 

Treasurer of Board of Trustees ----- Lewis W. Raymond 

Treasurer of Benevolences ------- Charles S. Dean 

Superintendent of Sunday School ----- William Hagen 

President of Woman's Missionary Society - - Mrs. John B. Harvie 

President of Woman's Church Society - - - Mrs. Charles S. Dean 

President of Young People's Christian Union - Carl L. Decker 

President of Men's Brotherhood ----- Mortimer J. Barrett 

Church Secretary ---------- Miss Anna T. Baker 

Choir. 
Mrs. Margaret M. Belcher, Soprano Fred C. Comstock, Baritone 
Miss Mary I. Chitty, Contralto William F. Sheehan, Tenor 

Miss Clara Stearns, Organist. 



[ 69 ] 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




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